Mission Impact v2.0 — Facing the unknown
Do not trouble your hearts overmuch with thoughts of the road ahead. Maybe the paths that you each shall tread are already laid before your feet. even though you do not see them. — J.R.R. Tolkien — Lord of the Rings
Introduction
In this piece, I critically engage with a dialogue with the multi-media reflections of the students in the Mission Impact course. These reflections are representative of the first five weeks of the course. A course that aims to connect students to places for regenerative design and futures. I do this from a number of lenses: The Personal, The Educational, The Community and the Design of Future Iterations of Mission Impact. As always, this is done in the context of open science. In a way, this is on route to be part of the larger autoethnography study I am conducting and an interpretative phenomonological analysis that will be conducted after this iteration of the course. As a result, there may be graphical or any other type of error present. A quick warning, this post contains emotionally-laden materials of personal journeys. Note: none of the texts have been edited, they may contain graphical or other types of language errors.
Personal Transformation
One of the key elements that we are asking the students to explore through the creative play sessions is what leadership, particularly of a regenerative kind, means for them. ‘I think leadership means that you guide other people to do or start thinking about certain things. A leader is a person with a strong vision and the intention to change something. It is a person that has the attitude to convince and inspire others. Other people look up to that person and feel in some way impressed by what the person is doing or saying.’ — Student. I quite like this reflection, as it reminds me of designing regenerative cultures and conversations I’ve had with Daniel Wahl about design and leadership, seeing both as taking intentional action to change systems. It was also quite telling how some, decided to drastically adjust the level of self-compassion and kindness that they expressed and engaged with in drafts versus the final versions. However, I should add, that it is possible the intention hasn’t changed as English is not their first language. In the following the differences that stood out to me have been highlighted. The following is a letter from one of the participants to their former selves:
‘Hello there.
I hope you are doing ok. I hope you are in a place where you are not so harsh on yourself. I bet you’ve bee[n] trough a lot of adventures. I bet they are all for a reason. At least i hope you made them be for a reason. Right now you are in a place where everything starts to feel real. It is scary jumping into the unknown. You knew this was going to be one of the hard subjects to study, however you knew you needed it. You knew it was a time investment valuable for becoming a good designer. Quite a lot of stepsmore before you are on the road to being great designer but we’ll get there. You were a lazy little man all your life you know? A lot of insecurities and not enough bravery. Weak and vulnerable. It’s ok, you’vecome on terms with it. You’ve accepted it. You made a choice to change your life, and become the personyou were dreaming of being as a little kid and to rediscover that wonderful and warm light inside of youand make your loved ones proud. You made a promise to yourself to become a better human being and tobe of service of others. You promised to become a better leader, partner, son, brother and a friend. Youestablished that by doing the things you know you should do but don’t want to or don’t feel like doing arethe very things that will make you excel. You know it’s true, i hope when you are reading this you have’tgiven up and you keep following that voice in your head that screams “KEEP GOING”. I hope you are aself made man who stick to disipline and hard work. I hope you never go back to being your old lazyunreliable self. I hope you mastered the art of design and research as they are the tools and skills youneed for making a change and impact.You’ve also fallen in love with a special girl. She made you feel alive again and keeps you motivated. It isanother resposibility and another thing that makes you be your best self. Remember, what ever happensthere is nothing in this world that can break you as long as you breath and your heart is pumping’
Then a later version:
‘Hello there,You were a lazy little man all your life you know? A lot of insecurities and not enough bravery. Weak and vulnerable. It’s ok, you’ve come on terms with it. You’ve accepted it. I hope you are doing ok. I hope youare in a place where you are not so harsh on yourself. I bet you’ve been trough a lot of adventures. I bet they are all for a reason. At least i hope you made them be for a reason. Right now you are in a placewhere everything starts to feel real. It is scary jumping into the unknown.You knew this was going to be one of the hard subjects to study, however you knew you needed it. Youknew it was a time investment valuable for becoming a good designer. Quite a lot of steps more before you are on the road to being great designer but we’ll get there. You made a promise to yourself to changeyour life, and become the person you were dreaming of being as a little kid. You made a promise toyourself to rediscover that bright light inside of you and make your loved ones proud. You made a promise to yourself to become a better human being and to be of service of others. You made a promise toyourself to become a better leader, partner, son, brother and a friend. You established that by doing thethings you know you should do but don’t want to or don’t feel like doing are the very things that will makeyou excel. You made a promise..You know it’s true, i hope when you are reading this you have’t given up and you keep following that voicein your head that screams “KEEP GOING”. I hope you are a self made man who stuck to disipline andhard work. I hope you never go back to being your old lazy unreliable self. I hope you mastered the art ofdesign and research as they are the tools and skills you need for making a change and impact lifes.You’ve also fallen in love with a special girl. She made you feel alive again and keeps you motivated. It isanother resposibility and another thing that makes you be your best self. Remember, what ever happensthere is nothing in this world that can break you as long as you breath and your heart is pumping’
The above are two stories from a single participant, they are the draft and re-drafted versions that was finally shared in the public setting. What I find remarkable in this are two things, that weakness and vulnerability are linked, which I fundamentally disagree with. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that strength requires vulnerability. Secondly, I am surprised by the reframing of the start, which started from a much more self-compassionate space but ended up being quite judgmental of theyself. I wonder if that is something this person brings with them from their background (culture, personality and such) or that somehow the course gave them the impression this was necessary. It’s rough to say but I hope it is the former, as if it is the latter I have truly failed my job.
There are some interesting elements in other letters as well ‘I know right now things are a bit fuzzy as you are unclear and uncertain about manythings. You don’t need anyone else to tell you what you already know inside. Youknow what you really want, where you want to be and what you want to be doing. Ofcourse, it won’t be easy, there are many things you will need to change aboutyourself, and many people you will have to leave behind. Its all part of the process,trust me. I would love to tell you that I’m sorry about how you are feeling right now,but I know that you need to feel this in order for me to be writing this to you.’ — Student. It is important to note that it is not my intention to argue that the transformative elements from both letters are because of Mission Impact. Some comments explicitely from before such as ‘those conversations made me realize it’s a choice of a lifestyle. I still feel like we mightbe fighting a lost battle sometimes (who knows if what we do will be fruitful and/orchange anything on a global scale), but I’ve made a decision of fighting that battle withthem. I can’t influence everybody in the world to change their lifestyle no matter whichprofession i choose. I want to do as much as I can and i want to do it via what i love -the design.’ — Student. I (try to) take a learning ecology perspective that sees the students and who they are becoming as an entaglement across time and space. In other words, their ecology is much broader and bigger than the time they spend in this course. What I do hope, is that the course provides an opportunity for them to unknot some of the entanglements of who they are and reflect on which roots to nurture for further development. A number of the students also seem to have chosen the course precisely for a personal challenge as shared by ‘I was unsure if research is a challange i can dealwith, because in the past i used to skip reading or the more theoretical part of the design procces becausei wanted to give my all to the creative part, but quickly realised they are connected and go hand by hand.’ — Student. And ‘Leaving an impact is something that has always had my attention. Seeing our world heading towards disaster scares me. And because it stings me that we as conscious beings act so harsh towards theplanet that we used to be a part of before we alienated from it’ — Student. Representative of the existential times we are living about. There seems to be a recurring theme with why students choose this particular course, as they felt a need for change and a challenge. ‘Within the last years i kept challenging myself and try more often to leave my comfort zone. Choosing this minor was definitely one of those decisions. I was aware how much work it wouldbe but i really wanted to grow and overcome some of myself set limitations. Though the help of wonderful feedback, encouragement, opportunities to discover and express ourselves and the material we get as support for this journey it was still difficult but always connected to that feeling of excitement of achieving something.’ — Student. An example of such a change is the inclusion of the personal in design-based change ‘Including my own experience into the research is very new to me. In IDE [industrial design] we always get taught that you should act as an external observer and only consider theperspectives of the stakeholders. I am not fully sure yet how it really works. I amcurious for the coming weeks to see what the different perspective adds to theresearch and project outcome.’ — students. There is a strong sense of both wonder and uncertainty (and the negatives and positives that come with both). This is quite a kin to the integral transcendence model of Scott Barry Kaufman and the sailboat metaphor I would argue. Both security and discovery have to come together, and perhaps true (existential) learning always lies at their nexus. During the course, we do our best to take some of that uncertainty away to which we are at least partially succesful. ‘The minor started of with a lot of uncertainty of what the minor would be really about. Over the course of a week, a lot more information was given and the purpose of this minor was made clear.’ — student.
This uncertainty that has been experienced by some before the course started, and I’d argue that is just a part of our times, continued during the course. ‘I was in the Greenport group and that has been quite anexperience as well, in the beginning, I was feeling excited but now I also feel like it’s along trip back and forth, but I’m having so much fun that it feels secondary now. The firstweek I thought we had so much to discover in this area but in the second week, I feltstuck because it wasn’t as easy as I expected, in the way that I thought we’d find a lot ofpeople to talk to and it began to feel more like an unexpected big challenge. Which onthe one hand, it’s not so bad because I’m always up for challenges but on the otherhand, it’s quite a long trip to be coming back sort of empty-handed. It’s been a ride Iwon’t forget.’ — Student. This particular personal challenge is quite common, and part of learning in the real world. As an educator it is also very difficult to bite my tongue or not use my own network to help them make a flying start, precisely because I want them to realize they have to ask for help when they need it. I believe the provided materials also help them to transform some of their own perspectives for example by asking are we worth sustaining? ‘Sometimes I was not really sure why to do all this. We created problems that now take ages to fix and for what do we do that? In a part of one of the books we had to read it said, we don’t do that for the planet, we do it for us, we do it, so that we as humans have the chance to grow, be the ones that can not even frame and still appreciate this mirical of life and keep expressing this feeling of love in all its forms like music, dancing, humor, and so on. This is what is worth about us to be sustained’ — student. Or ‘learning about Biocentrism was an eye-opener for me. I do not understand why Inever questioned the concept of human-centred research although I alwaysconsidered me as a designer that was focused on sustainability. But still Iconcentrated my research about humans. Maybe because it is easier as I can talk topeople, but trees and animals will not respond to me.’ — Student. I would also argue, that perhaps, just maybe, the trees and animals will also talk with us if we relearn their language.
What was also interesting was that most expressed excitement and confidence to now host creative research workshops with real stakeholders, which is a notable shift in last year’s perception. I suppose that the addition of research reading as well as classes and workshops that focus on this facilitation has helped with this.
I think this is also experienced by at least some of the students. ‘The world is changing for better or worse and it’sup to yourself to decide how you will shape your own future and what legacy you’ll leave behind. For me I see great sorrow in the future of our wellbeing, as a society, but also of everything around us. I’ve made my call and this is where I am today.5 weeks have passed since I started a new journey and the experience I’ve gained through the teachings of the people around me I value dearly.I can see that the road ahead of me will be tough, but I’m confident that I will pull through with the help of my team. I’ve developed myself to become a better version of what I was mere weeks ago.’ — student. It also raises a question, when is it okay for students to just be, and not grow. Do we always have to push (ourselves and our learning spaces) further?
Educational culture is broken
Like many others, I believe that there is a fundamental unsustainability at the core of (higher) educational cultures, at least in my western European context. A comment from one of the students in the mission impact course reminded me deeply of this broken nature ‘I wish to pass the minor, for that, I have to: do all my assignments in due time. Read all the weekly materials in due time. Do all my group work in the days that we established for group work. Always try to achieve more than required.’. As a teacher, it is easy to see a comment like that as a good thing, someone who wants to go above and beyond. And it is very possible the intention behind this comment was indeed positive. For me, however, it is precisely an indication of the unsustainability (neoliberalism) that is so deeply seated in our education. I don’t want people to achieve more than required as I don’t know what is required. When I don’t know what is required, which comes as a prerequisite of life-centred education, going with the process with openness is in fact all one can do. I don’t want my students to place that much pressure on themselves thinking it is what I expect, potentially even contributing to the rampant psychological crisis affecting students. I don’t want everything to be in due time, especially when and if the deadlines are wrong. Later a statement is added ‘I have to read more than the readings given weekly’ (idem), while I applaud anyone who enjoys reading and learning, I sincerely hope this is not born from an impression of us as teachers.
‘Through Bas I heared about this minor ‘Mission Impact], its content and potential challenges. I wanted to proof myself that I can do a challenging semester because the topic is great and that Im “good enough” for it. One thing I noticed that i really want and need to learn was to see a greater picture around a problem, learn to see interconnections and how I can predict possible causes asmuch as possible. The other main topic I want to learn is how to do research. How to come up with findings that are truely relevant and unique.’ — student. This is another example that could be read from both the lens of ‘oh this person is unsure if they can rise to this challenge’ or ‘why does a student even question if they are ‘good’ enough for a course?’. What message are we fundamentally sending to people if they have to even ask such a question? And how many amazing people do we rob of the opportunity to develop their own talents as regenerative leaders. And the impacts those people could have had in service of a sustainable world. This point was also highlighted in part by one of the students. ‘When I was reading the papers and books of the weekly readings I found thecommunicated messages really inspiring and motivating. However, I think that thosebooks and papers are often only read by people that are already interested insustainability. We also need to find ways to address these topics to people outsidethe “sustainability bubble” as we all have to work together to make a change.’
One of the missing elements in higher education, that we try to create a lot of space for creative engagement. Which was also an explicit wish expressed by some of the participants. ‘I hope this minor will teach me more creative research methods as I am tired ofusing the same old IDE-approved research methods over and over again. I think I am a creative person, but I never thought about using my creativity when doingresearch.’ What does it say when even design engineering, which ought to be one of the most creative places in academia, limits the creativity of students to a pre-set list of methods (primarily based on the Delft design guide)? Should we insist on teaching only established methods or invite them to build on what already exists? To push collective frontiers? Can we trust our students enough to do so, knowing that in most cases this may not actually result in methodological innovation (although it might!) in the grand scheme of human knowledge, but may allow them to learn more then thay would’ve by following a script. Especially considering the increased room this provides for agency and exploration. I also fully recognize that there will also just be students who are not and will not be interested in this.
I know they are out there but I cannot stop and wonder…where are the pedagogies of action, of agency, of hope. The education that actively empowers learners to act in the face of global injustices. An education, and a design, that does not make students feel like they are destined to do more harm but to do fundamentally better things. I sincerely hope we can break away from this culture and cultive more regenerative ones. To move away from this, in my opinion, destructive tendency of more, of personal growth at all costs. This raises a number of questions for me like:
- When can we say being is just enough?
- Where can there be a place for education to nurture self-acceptance?
- How can we educate for growth if our learners don’t know who they are (becoming)?
- When does personal growth mean purposive degrowth?
The importance of community
One of the elements that was strongly highlighted, was the importance of community. ‘I also felt very welcome by the other students and teachers. Everyone is very friendly and open. That makes it easier for me to include myself in group conversations and activities as I am usually a bit shy when it comes to meeting new people.’ — student. Although some were surprised by the small size of the class. ‘I was very excited to start this new semester. I had a lot of hope and motivation. When the semester started i was surprised with how small our group was, but quickly isaw an advantage in that — i could talk with everyone at least for a little bit, and duringclasses we all speak freely’ — student. As teachers, we spent a lot of effort in nurturing a space that feels welcoming and invites learning, I am happy to say that this was also shared by several of the students. ‘One thing i want to let you know is how happy im with the minor. I like the atmosphere you all create. This is the kind of setting where im the most happy to share more personal things in. Aspecially when we had the story telling and Bas told us that well do a quick meditation session i was really like “omg this is amazing” Im just really happy and would really like to have even more than just on wednesdays lessons.’ —student. It was also stressed how building a community is a process that takes time ‘I met a group of people and each week we knew more about each other and foundmoments to share information about our personal lives as well and tell each other thingsand engage in really nice conversations, outside classes, in classes, after onlinesessions we stayed in the calls amongst us, during the field trips to the Greenport,during the breaks, when we worked together doing assignments, when we needed help,through our WhatsApp chat. There were moments for humor, laughing about stuff thathappened, anecdotes, etc…we worry about each other’s cat’s well-being if they are sickand we are flexible when someone needs more time for their personal life as well. In theend, I think we created special bonds with each other and I’m happy I chose this groupproject.’ — student.
One element that was highlighted as particularly challenging, was connecting to the broader community. The people working around The Hague to create a more sustainable future. ‘I’d love for persons who work for the Hague Municipality and experts in the field of circularity to come andbe a relevant voices for the workshop because they might be able to answer certain questions more indepth than we (Team Binckhorst) can. In order to achieve a successful workshop, we aim to do it in the Binckhorst itself. And by inviting thestakeholders, they might give us suggestions on which areas they would like for us to focus our efforts on. — student. I am wondering if they will determine if it is their responsibility to get the people they need in the workshop instead of the other way around. I think this is a fundamental part where their role as student shifts to facilitator of societal learning. The same student later continued ‘going in to this minor I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into. I wasn’t feeling too confidentbut knew that I had to push through. I felt out of place ….I felt out of place, but not for long. I slowly settled into my role of being a regenerative leader and it feltgood. I know that even though we’ve barely started on the minor, just knowing that the ideas that werebrainstormed by my team could possibly be stepping stones that the Binckhorst will use for theirregenerative future made me feel like I had already accomplished something’ — student.
(Re)designing Mission Impact
The theme of self-critique also continued as evidenced by the accompanying text to the above visual. ‘It represents author’s poor time managing skills, under the pressure of responsibilities puton her. I’ve chose this drawing style, as it was known for being available for everyone and for itvery symbolic approach. This helped me to include most of my reflections above. Green mountain, literally represents the sustainability goal for this semester. The subject on the picture is only at the beginning of the journey and already feels overwhelmed. The peak is not even in the frame yet. Big sleigh is fully packed with all the things the stick figure needs to get through this journey, but the weight of them slows the figurine down. Big clock in hand represents the time limit and the pressure of every passing moment. Big, dark clouds are the forecast of what is going to happen if we don’t make it in time. Stick figure is determined to go forward.’
This in ways, is the mirror image of what we attempt for with Mission Impact, as a place that allows for slowing down, reflection, purpose. Instead I have, once again, fallen into the trap of asking too much from learners. I think we fall in the trap of action and passion so strongly that it ends up being too much to handle. ‘I assumed intro week is an intro week and week 1 comes after that. Boy was i wrong. So, from the very beginning i was behind. Materials prepared for us were really interesting, so i didn’t want to miss any of those, but the language they were written in,was very challenging for me. I never before had to read so many academic researchesin english in such a short time. I stopped participating in any other parts of my life, other than school. I did not want to complain, because i did not want to admit to my failure. It took me some time to gain enough self-confidence to speak up about the problem and snarky comments about imperfect english of some people did not help. Luckily i managed.’ (idem). This resulted in a general sense of overwhelmedness.
‘I also felt a bit overwhelmed with all the readings and individual tasks for theexpedition guide as it is very different from how it works in my study program.’ — Student
‘It has been quite overwhelming since I am not used to reading for university, plusthere has been a lot going on with my past semester project (we continued workingon it together) and things going on outside of university in my personal life. I feel thatI can postpone things but then my workload becomes quite big. To be honest, it hasalways been this way; I always leave things for the last minute. So far, it seemed towork. In Architecture and IDE leaving things for the last day or two always workedout. I believe it is due to the pressure I feel when I know there is a deadline soon thatI need to achieve. This is the same reason why I am doing this assignment at thestart of week 4. It seems that now, with the factor of having to read chapters of bookswhich I never had before at this rate and consistency is proving that my leave-it-for-the-last-moment approach might not be the best, as now I have a lot to work onindividually, as a group as well as catching up on reading.’ — Student
‘After the long summer break, I was really happy that university started again. Iwas motivated and excited for the minor and the first two weeks did not disappointme. Our project is great, the people are really nice and the provided learningmaterials are very interesting. I am still a bit worried about the way we have todeliver our work. It feels a bit confusing with all the different documents that we haveto hand in. In addition, there is not that much time left and creating documents and apresentation with a group always takes a lot of time. We have to do a lot of researchfor the Design Brief and Scoping Document, but at the same time we also have to dothe reading and individual tasks for the Expedition guide.’ — Student
This latter point, of the documentation and the amount of documentation that we ask is also a sharp contrast with a particularly difficult aspect of educational culture to tackle. Assessment. While I believe we are getting closer to finding the right form of assessment, I still struggle with (A) finding a balance between subjectification, qualification and sociolisation. And (B) maintain the degree of openness for co-design in the assessment itself that I believe would be more conducive for this form of learning where we place life-central. There is a very difficult balance here between constructing a learning path with safety that comes with it, while inviting exploration and openness.
There are also signs of positive impact of the course, a big one is the inclusion of the spiritual-psychological dimension of sustainability, although I expect that this is really something that future participants have to be open for to benefit from it. ‘Mission Impact has already changed a lot for me. What had the most impact on me is this more spiritual approach to sustainability. I really started thinking about me as a person on this planet, i started questioning the my own befliefs about my life and what my “purpose” is and whats importaint. Im getting more and more certain that career in sustainability is the right thing for me and its something that becomes more and more importanin top me. A very calming thouight is how we are all a part of the universe that means for me that i cant really mess things up. Im here for a limited time and no matter what my future might look like as long as im happy everything is fine. I like this program a lot because its not only challenging me in a way of actual work i haveto do but also mentally. I think a lot alot about myself and i enjoy that. I also like what i leaned about inner worlds. I think that gave me a whole new perspective on my own life and life in general. I think its so interesting to realize that life is not just what happens around me but also within me. I would consider myself to be someone to think a lot. I dont share much of that but i like the thought, that i dont have to. What happens in my hear is part of my life and doesnt have to be out there.’- Student. This inclusion of the spiritual-psychological was captured quite nicely by another participant ‘I feel like the way this minor works and the materials we have to go through are very vague and weirdwhen standing outside of the circle. When we hear spirituality we tend to think of people with stones andzodiac signs. However I’ve learned that spirituality is just simply finding you place in the universe andbeing at peace with it.’ I would say that this captures the existential risk of education and of living in transitional times.
Tt is important to add that not everyone experienced a sense of overwhelmedness it was the majority. For example ‘ The shrenghts of the course for me is the very nicely sselected material. so far i have not read anything i fould boring or not helpful. Also i like that the material sometimes overlaps so you read something and in the next week something else and you can already make a connectionto the think you read before. It feels very coherend and that to me makes it really exciting. I hear a lot of people complaining about the fact that its too much to read. I also think its a lot but not at all too much. I think its nice that we have to be so buzy and find ways to do all the work. I also enjoy the assignments and how many different options we get to approach them. One think i would like to change though is, that we have to do creative work with a very close deadline and i personally need a lot of time to think what i want to do and how and because i still want to do all the tasks i have to compromize nad i dont really like that. I think what could be nice it that there is a loger time frame for creative work and that we are very open with it. Maybe an assignment like the story telling that by the end of the phase we have somethink like an “art gallery” where everyone is supposed to bring all the creative things they have done in the phase, talk abou it and we all can look at it. Maybe thats too long for you and you want to see results more often I dont know. But somehow changing the time we have for creative things would be nice. ‘— Student
What is good is that the selected materials are generally considered as meaningful, although the theme of heaviness of the workload returns often. ‘ Already from the beginning I felt kind of unease. It took a while to understand in what manner we will workon this project. I was happy to hear I was not the only one that still had some struggles understanding it.As the first week passed by I got a better idea of what our goal will be for the coming weeks. Just as thesecond week was approaching I looked on the materials we would had to read and my heart skipped abeat. I asked myself ‘How am I ever going to read so many pages?’. Upon opening the files I quicklyrealised that the material was more fun than anticipated. Not only did I enjoyed the readings, but I alsowas motivated to do so. And yet again, I was not the only one. The phrase ‘We have to read so much’practically became our ‘hello’. But just as me they found pleasure in the materials we had to tackle. Eachone of my co students felt very intrigued by the possible creative methods.’ — Student. This workload also resulted in a sense of loss when someone (understandably) got behind the curve ‘because I was behind with reading in the first weeks and the amount of it was quite impressive I did notknow what to do first. Also in between there were other assignments that we were supposed to work onwith the team. The pressure of delivering to the team really got onto me. It was strange that the stress ofnot being able to present the results still had so little impact at the beginning. Throughout the weeks Imade poor decisions that resulted in me doing almost nothing until the final week. I was not able to deliver my work on time. I felt awful about that because I really like this minor and howfree and creative we can be. At this point I was not able to use the full potential of this way of learning andI badly regret it. After a conversation with Bas I felt as if my problem was accepted. He came up with ways I can deal withthis dragon and he really wants to help me with this and I really hope that together we can find tools thatwill help me free myself from this life-bugging attitude….However, when the first deadlines arrived life became a bit harder again. Behind my back I could feelpresence, a very strong and down pulling aura and in the front a saw a door that said ‘please open’. Aftera long consideration I kicked the door open to see a very bright light that shone in my face. As thePrescence behind me grew, I knew I had to deep into the light and so I did.’ — Student.
I quite like this above quote for a multitude of reasons, one for the sheer courage that is required to even admit something like this, but also because I believe it highlights an important element of regenerative education. When we take regenerative education as the appropriate participation in the healing of places and self. Learning to deal with this part of ourselves that may be holding us back from achieving what we want to achieve, becomes a very meaningful and powerful focus for learning. However, it also implies an added responsibility for the teachers that are involved. In a previous post, I have argued that part of our role in these forms of education is more like a psychologist, an element that links to the spiritual, emotional and pscyhological dimensions of sustainability and has been largely excluded from academia and education. I also realize this will require additional professionalisation for a vast majority of teachers. Do I know I will be able to help this person with this particular personal challenge? No. Do I know I will do my best to do so? Yes. Does that mean I will need additional training? Yep. Does that mean I have to become a fully fledged psychologist? Nope! What it does mean however, is that perhaps in teacher training (SBD and BDB in the Netherlands) time and effort is spent on personal coaching, including making an assessment when a challenge requires professional help and when you can play a healing role. It also asks to battle some preconceived notions that we may embody as part of the culture as teachers ourselves. For example, when someone doesn’t hand in their documents in time, it is quite easy for a teacher to get annoyed or perhaps even upset. When taking a softer, more caring, more individualized approach, may actually allow you to get much further together in partnership. This also, however, requires the ability to adjust the expectations of the more externally oriented group work for that particular person if you know they will focus on inner development.
Future of the Course
There are definitely going to be less major changes for Mission Impact v3.0 than their were going from the pilot to this iteration. For example, the course necessarily has to remain relatively small (max 25 people). The biggest are the following:
- I still would really like to do an actual bootcamp for the (majority) of the reading materials in the first 2 or 3 weeks. Including hiring a farm or campsite for the beginning. This could for example be days that include nature-based activities, time to read/prepare, workshops and classes, cooking and other social events. Following by a deep-dive into tackling a wicked sustainability challenge for the remainder of the semester where we keep the focus both on the external and internal dimension of learning. For example, if we engage with 8 chapters from two books over two-weeks, with 1 workshop per day as well as one nature-based activity per day. They could deep-dive into the theory in the beginning and only focus on the application afterwards. A bit like a low-residency model. The major limit for this being the costs, as you are easily looking at 8.000–12.000 euro’s for those two weeks with 25 people. It is my fervent believe however, that such a start would greatly aid in the study-ableness of the course, the inner dimension part of the course, and the building of community in the course.
- We discussed focussing exclusively on regenerative future food systems for future versions, this is strategically interesting for our research center as well the deep cultural links with food and society that could be very interesting to explore through a regenerative sustainability lens.
- For the expedition guides, we will create hardcover books for the students to maintain during the course. These are a bit less flexible than the digital alternatives we have now but we feel it is worth a shot for the added engagement. We will use the work of soul.com, the current expedition guide and the transformative arts toolkit by Pearson et al (2018). as main inspiration. From a research perspective, these journals could be very powerful tools for researching the inner dimension of sustainability.
- Assessment: to be honest at this point I am unsure how to change this but I feel changes will emerge moving forward.
Bringing this all together that would mean the first two weeks of the course are a nature-based residency where we go through the essential theory, get to know eachother, and start the process of opening up. After that, teams receive their transition challenge and expedition guides and start working on regenerative future food systems in partnership with places that we work with. Throughout the course, update meetings would be included where the teams present their work to each other, us and our partners in both written and visual forms. And dedicated sessions that focus on the expedition guide and that process will also be hosted. In other words, there will be guidance for the team work and the inner work. Final deliverables would then include the expedition guides (hardcover books) at the end, as well as team outputs such as food artefacts, reports and presentations or experiences. For a part of the course, the findings would then flow into graduation projects as well so they can continue or dive deeper. I’d also like to add that just like last year, I am incredibly honoured to work with these people. Their bravery and courage is an inspiration.
As always, if you have any questions or simply want to reach out for a chat feel free to do so. Liking, sharing and clapping are appreciated.
Bas van den Berg
